Friday, 30 May 2014

My Stereotype Reversal Novel: An Uncommon Heroine

Possibly my first truly Feminist text. This was more an experiment than an honest attempt at a saleable novel.

Just before I wrote this, I was dwelling upon all the stereotypes and tropes often found in Fantasy fiction. I thought I'd take a whole bunch of them, and reverse them.

I had a feisty heroine, Mary Jane, who refused to buckle down to convention and propriety. Her younger sister was to marry Lord Miniver, who was Not A Nice Person. MJ sought to stop her, thus saving her.

This is a book best forgotten. The only reason I remember it is because it was the project I was working on when I lost my first baby. Lord Miniver was being a most troublesome character (with chauvinistic tendencies) and wouldn't talk to me. He didn't respect my authority as an author.

So, when I had to go under general anesthetic for a D&C, I told him I was locking him in a very dark, very lonely room [in my head] and only I had the key. I was now going to go under anesthetic. There was a chance I might not come out.

If he wanted to be released from that room ever, he would spill the beans regarding his characterisation.

It worked.

Turns out, he was a thoroughly unpleasant person.

Between him and my inability to string a decent plot together for this tale, I abandoned the novel before I could complete it.

_____________________________Her Grace, by now, was not above abandoning a novel if it wasn't working. Sometimes one has to experiment.